


A Kiss Behind Curtains

by Hermionesqueen (hermionesqueen)



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 15:19:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9613490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermionesqueen/pseuds/Hermionesqueen
Summary: When Liz and Tsubaki are cast as the romantic leads in their school play of Cinderella, they realize their relationship might be more than just friendship. Amazing art by Resbang partner is here: http://strawberrymeister.tumblr.com/post/156903230101/do-you-love-tsuliz-are-you-a-theater-kid-well





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'll edit for pretty formatting later.

Liz looked around the drama room, everyone was quietly sitting down and waiting for the teacher to show up. Today she was supposed to announce who all the parts had been assigned to, so they were all anxious to hear what she had to say. 

Mostly, everyone sat with people their age. They had assigned seats at one point, but Miss Marie, their teacher, was so lenient that they just ended up sitting wherever they wanted to anyway. 

Finally, she ran into the room and stood up at the front of the class.

“Alright… I’ve assigned everyone’s parts for our play. Please listen as I call out your roles.” She paused, checking to see if everyone was listening, and smiled at her students. “Please come get your copy of the script from me when I call your name. I’ve highlighted your parts for you; leave this copy at home so you can practice there too.” 

All the girls looked at each other in anticipation. Just about everyone has been hoping for the role of Cinderella—after all, what more could a girl want than a pretty gown and a prince? 

“Patty, Maka, you will be the stepsisters.” Patty was a sophomore while Maka was freshman, so they didn’t really know each other too well. Regardless, they seemed to like the idea that they’d have almost all their scenes together, as they smiled at each other when Miss Marie called out their names.

“Kim, you’ll be the stepmom.” 

Kim seemed fairly happy with her role. Liz thought it suited her; she might as well be the evil stepmom of the school.

“Soul, you’ll play the King.” 

Soul was one of the younger boys in drama. Liz had always thought he’d had an aged appearance… and the white hair didn’t help. Maybe the makeup crew this year would be able to make him look his part. 

“Finally, Liz will be our prince and Tsubaki is Cinderella. The rest of you can look at this list to see what minor roles you’ve been assigned.” She began straightening her papers, ready to leave. “Some of you will be understudies. Remember, we need everyone, including the backstage workers, just as much as the main cast, if not more.” 

The Prince… Liz would be playing the Prince. At least Tsubaki would be Cinderella—she could play that part well, for she was stunningly beautiful and had a true kind heart. Tsubaki was one of Liz’s closest and most special friends.

“Here you go.” Tsubaki tossed Liz her copy of the script, catching her off-guard and making her fumble with it. “Do you want to go somewhere to celebrate?” Tsubaki added with a hopeful smile.

“Pizza?” Liz suggested.

“My house?” 

“Is your brother gonna be there?”

“Nope!”

“Sounds good!” 

 

“How do you feel about your part?” Tsubaki asked as she lay on the floor of her bedroom, working on homework.

“It’s a good role,” Liz said, laying next to her. “You know I normally get assigned guy roles. Besides, you’ll be Cinderella, so at least it’ll be bearable.”

 

Tsubaki nodded. “I figured since we were the only seniors that stuck with the program from freshman year until now, she’d give us major roles.” 

“That’s probably why she did it.”

 

“Miss Marie is so nice, even to the younger students who still don’t know what they’re doing.”

“She really is.”

“Speaking of younger students, how did Patty get home? Please don’t tell me you left her at the school all by herself.” 

“No!” Liz laughed. “I’m not that mean, Kid picked her up and drove her home.” 

“Just checking.” Tsubaki rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t even put it past you.” 

“Meanie,” Liz huffed, turning away. 

“Drama queen.”

“See,” Liz replied sarcastically, “you are a big meanie.” 

Tsubaki just rolled her eyes again. 

 

“I heard we’re supposed to get costumes today in drama,” Tsubaki whispered to Liz while painting her outline.”

“Already?” Liz said in surprise, glancing away from her still-blank canvas. “She only just assigned roles yesterday…” 

“She did take our measurements weeks ago.”

“I guess.” Liz paused, studying Tsubaki’s work. “…Hey, what’re you painting anyway?” 

“It’s a camellia flower.” Tsubaki dabbed her brush onto her palette as she spoke. “Mr. Mifune told us to paint something that spoke to us, and the camellia flower represents refinement, perfection, and excellence. And ‘Tsubaki’ is ‘Camellia’ in Japanese.” 

“Camellias also represent… desire, right?” Liz remarked. “Is there something you want?” 

“I wanted the lead in the play.”

“But you have that now.”

Tsubaki shrugged and started painting again. This was good, Liz thought, she could watch Tsubaki paint all day long. She always painted with such precision, it was impossible to not be entranced by her painting skills. 

But she had her own work to do. Work. She had to work. 

She hadn’t even picked out something to paint yet. Paint something that speaks to you, the art teacher had said. What spoke to her? 

Memories. Memories were nice, and she had brought a photo album. Just choose one, it’s not that hard. 

Choosing was much harder than it’s made out to be. 

She finally settled on a picture from last school year, one of her and Tsubaki doing each other’s hair before dress rehearsal last year. That year’s play was The Wizard of Oz, Tsubaki had played Glinda and Liz was the Wicked Witch of the West. Polar opposites…

The contrast of the subjects in the picture was nice. The art teacher was sure to love it. 

Deep breaths Liz, art is not that hard. 

She flipped the canvas to a landscape orientation. Sketching the portrait shouldn’t be too hard, it should give her a distraction for a while. 

 

The bell rang in what felt like no time at all. Strange how time seems to fly by when you have something to do. 

The next class was theatre arts. With Tsubaki. 

“Are you ready yet?” Tsubaki was already ahead, of course. Liz hadn’t even put up her canvas yet. She’d just have to put on the stack of sketched canvases on the way out. 

“Yeah.” 

It’s weird how much work has to be put into getting ready to move classes, she thought. She stood up, pushed in her chair, grabbed her bag and canvas, and walked to the door. 

 

"Alright, class." Miss Marie smiled at her students like she had already forgotten they pranked her at the beginning of the year. "Today we'll start rehearsing the scripts. Patty, Maka, Tsubaki—you all go to that room." She motioned towards the practice room on her right. 

"Soul and Liz, you two can practice in that room." She waved towards the practice room on her left. "The rest of you guys can practice out here." She waved towards the seats surrounding everything in the big practice room. "The list of who's playing who is right over here if you need to find out who you'll be practicing with." 

She flipped through the papers on her clipboard. "Alright, that’s all. You can go practice now." 

Liz stood up and followed the freshman, Soul, into the left practice room. Soul was odd for someone his age maybe she'd finally learn something about him. 

When they were finally seated in the practice room, Soul stared at her for a good two minutes before asking, "Are you going to start or are we going to just sit here?" 

Blunt. He was blunt. Ignoring the almost mocking tone he’d used, she started to read her part. 

Practicing lines for the first time was always challenging. Liz must've stumbled on her words at least a hundred times in the hour they had practiced. 

Finally, Miss Marie showed up to tell them they could stop practicing for the day. Having no interest in talking to the freshman after messing up so many times, Liz ran back to the main room to find Tsubaki. 

She found Tsubaki sitting in the big practice room, talking to Maka. Tsubaki motioned at Liz to come over to them. 

Liz walked over to Tsubaki, now wondering about freshman Maka. Did she and Soul know each other? They seemed to talk to each other. Maybe they did, maybe it wasn't her business—it probably wasn't.

"Liz, this is Maka." Tsubaki nodded towards the girl as if Liz hadn't already noticed her. 

"Hi, Maka. I'm Liz." She held out a hand, trying to seem friendly to the freshman.

Maka smiled and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you." As if she didn't already know who Liz was. Social norms are strange things, Liz thought. 

Tsubaki smiled at Maka. "It was nice talking to you, but I have to go. My next class is in a different building; I don't want to be late." 

She started towards the door, Liz trailing directly behind her. 

"What did you and Maka talk about?" Liz asked as soon as they left the building. 

"Not much, honestly. I asked her if she was a freshman, and she told me she was. Then I asked her what classes she was taking, and apparently she’s taking /all/ AP program classes." Tsubaki shook her head. "Freshmen are crazy." 

"I agree." 

"Did you talk to Soul any?"

Liz laughed. "No, not really." 

"What happened?" 

"He's a little snarky asshole." 

Tsubaki rolled her eyes. "He can't be /that/ bad." 

"That asshole smirked every single time I made a mistake. /And/ he insulted me at the start, insinuating that I didn't know I was supposed to start!" 

"Calm down, he's just a freshman."

"Age is not an excuse to be an asshole." 

"Alright. You win there, he was an asshole. But you have to go to class now, do you really want to be trying to do calculus and still be mad at him at the same time?"

"Hell yeah. You can catch me up after school." 

"Liz, I have ballet practice today after school. I can't help you tonight." 

"Yeah, yeah. I should be the mature and responsible almost adult and all that other crap." 

Tsubaki gave her friend a look. 

"Fine, I'll let it go. See you during lunch." 

Tsubaki waved goodbye as she walked through the door to her classroom.

Several Saturdays later, all of the drama team had to stay at school to help start painting the second backdrop they were using for the play. Tsubaki and Liz were assigned to help watch the younger high schoolers and making sure they didn't goof too badly.

As usual, Maka and Soul had already started bicker, not even fifteen minutes into painting.

Tsubaki shook her head in disbelief. "They're really something, aren't they?" 

She was referring to how Maka and Soul were somehow managing to flirt and insult each other the same time. Typical. 

"Do all freshmen act like this?" Liz muttered in annoyance. 

"No. You were a freshmen once, don’t you remember?" 

"But that was practically years and years and /years/ ago. It might as well have been centuries since then." 

"Liz. Three years. It's been three years. You're only a senior." 

"Whatever." 

Just at that moment, Soul stumbled backwards and knocked over a paint can, spilling white paint all over the stage.

"Freshmen..." Liz said under her breath. 

"Liz, stop being a drama queen and start helping clean this mess up."

"Alright, alright." 

Liz ran to grab some paper towels while Soul was quickly apologizing to Tsubaki for having spilled paint all over the stage. 

She tossed the paper towels to Tsubaki, and the three wiped up the mess that had been made. 

"Will the drama teacher be mad?" Soul asked Tsubaki. 

"Miss Marie? Mad? I doubt it." 

He seemed relieved that she thought so. 

"Don't worry, you'd have to mess up big time to get in trouble here. Spilled paint is nothing." She paused. "But you should probably get back to painting that backdrop now."

He nodded diligently. Soul seemed to have matured a lot more since the beginning of the year, Liz noted. He was a completely different person than the one that had mocked her the first day of the school year. Maybe Maka had finally influenced him. 

"We could probably help them, too,” Liz suggested. “Painting backdrops can't be that hard; they're not even painting the more detailed parts yet."

Tsubaki smiled. "Good point." 

As it turned out, painting backdrops was fairly hard. And pretty fun, if watching Tsubaki paint could be considered fun. Liz thought it could.

Eventually they got done with painting the base of the backdrop. You could sort-of tell it was supposed to be the ballroom, Liz thought. It'd look better next week, when they came back to start painting in all the little details that made it less like a bunch of different colors clashing together and more like an actual, proper backdrop. 

Theater was always interesting.


	2. 2

One day, Marie decided it was time to help Liz and Tsubaki learn the choreography for the ballroom scene. It wasn't going well.

She began by cheerily explaining how they were supposed to do it, using about a billion words Liz wasn't fully convinced really existed. 

Eventually, this proved to be a poor tactic: They'd been practicing for a good thirty minutes and hadn't managed to do anything besides step on each other's toes. 

"Okay, let's just start over with a box step," Miss Marie said. She moved to demonstrate her next words: "Start with your feet together and put your weight on your right foot… Next, move your left leg straight forward in a small step and shift your weight onto it." 

Despite that she couldn’t follow a map to save her life, Miss Marie was one of the best dancers Liz knew, and made a perfect example of everything she said. 

"Then you move your right foot up to the side of your left foot, so that there is a small gap between your feet…Then shift your weight onto your right foot and bring your feet together, moving your left foot over to meet your right." 

She finished the steps with a dramatic arm throw and smiled. "Simple. Can you do that?" 

Tsubaki had improved, but Liz… 

"Okay, so…” Miss Marie frowned. ”You just step this way… No, not that way, Liz… I think it's time to take a break."

Tsubaki nodded and they called it off for the day.

 

"Tsubaki, do you think I'll ever learn how to dance?" Liz asked at lunch the next day. 

"Of course you will,” Tsubaki replied with a smile. “You just need to practice more. You have plenty of time to learn." 

"But it's too hard. I can't do this." 

"I could offer to lead,” Tsubaki suggested. “But… do you think it would work, since you're the prince and I'm the princess?" 

Liz nodded. "I don't like leading. You're good at it though, and you're taller anyways.Plus, that way you could help teach me. You could help me after school too, and then we'd actually be good together by the day we perform." 

"I'll mention it to her later, when we go to help with painting tomorrow." 

"Miss Marie?” Tsubaki said, approaching her. “Do you think that maybe for the ballroom I could lead instead of Liz? I'm more experienced and can help her learn that way better. We'd even be able to practice outside of school if we do it that way." 

"I guess so,” Miss Marie said with a shrug. “If you think it'll work, we'll try it."

"Thank you, we'll make it work," Liz assured her.

"Great. Now please help these freshman try to paint this backdrop. I don't want them to ruin the stage any further."

"Right. Sorry about what happened last week, I don't think Soul meant to make that mess. We cleaned it up the best we could," Tsubaki said.

"I know, just please help them this time and try not to let them do it again."

"You do realize you don't have to apologize for everything, right?" Liz said to Tsubaki as they walked up the stairs to the stage. "You're not responsible for other people's mistakes."

Tsubaki nodded. "I know, I apologize a lot." She shrugged. "It's just a habit I guess."

Liz nodded. "I'm not going to help paint much today. I'll leave that to the artists that are better at details and just help supervise the younger students."

 

Practicing with Tsubaki was hard sometimes. She wasn’t a bad teacher, she really good at explaining everything. Literally /everything/, Liz’s dance vocabulary was extremely limited and she tripped fell into Tsubaki well more than just a few times. 

There was just something that made everything about this hard, and as much Liz loved to believe it was just her lack of dancing skills, she knew that just wasn’t it. 

She’d have to think about it more, about what exactly it was that made this so hard. Maybe it was Tsubaki. It wasn’t this hard to practice with Miss Marie. But why would it be because of Tsubaki? They’ve known each other for /years/ now. Tsubaki was /her best friend/, this should be easy. 

Liz had gotten so distracted just thinking about what it could possibly she lost focus of her surroundings. She then tripped over Tsubaki’s foot and fell flat on the ground for the umpteenth time today. 

Tsubaki gave Liz a concerned look as she helped her up off the ground.  
“Do you think that uhm...maybe we should just stop here for today? We’ve been here practicing for hours and barely made any progress…” 

Liz awkwardly tried to laugh to cover up her embarrassment and told Tsubaki they could meet up again tomorrow.

Liz simply waved and then ran out to her car, trying to save herself from further embarrassment. 

 

Once she was finally home, Liz sat down at her desk in her room. There were pictures of her and Tsubaki all over her desk. Everywhere. Pictures from each play they had been in together, from school dances, random trips to the park and candid photos just taken at school during breaks. 

The only other thing on her desk was just a plain journal. She hadn’t written in it since at least 6th grade, but it had always helped her sort confusing things out. Maybe it would help her figure this confusing mess out. 

She opened it and flipped through all her old entries until she found a blank page, then grabbed a pen and started to write, 

“Things are confusing again lately. Tsubaki is my best friend, so why does it feel so weird to be around her lately? It’s like everything seems to be changing and I don’t really know why…It’s not like I no longer like her as a friend or anything. I couldn’t say that, I still get excited when we hang out together and even boring tasks are fun as long as she’s around...Like i’m some stupid 3rd grader or something.” 

At this point, Liz became so frustrated with herself that she slammed the journal closed and ran to her bed to shove her face in her pillow.

“So stupid, so stupid! Can’t even act normal around Tsubaki, of all people! Ugh!” The pillow muffled her words, but Patty could obviously still hear that something was going on as she walked through the door right at that moment. 

“Are you okay?” She asked, a curious look on her face.

Liz looked up at her but didn’t respond.  
“Having trouble with something again? Is it because you love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa and you’re just too scared to tell her?” 

“I don’t love Tsubaki,” Liz stated firmly.

“Mhm, keep telling yourself that.”

Lis glared at her younger sister. “And what is it that makes you think I love her?” 

“Should be obvious. You’re always hanging out together and doing stuff together.”

“Because we’re in drama together! That’s why we hang out together all the time.” 

“No, it’s not!” Patty started to walk out the door, “Call me when you finally confess to her!” \

And she was gone. She wasn’t right...but what if she was? What if Liz really did love Tsubaki? It was possible...she did. She did love Tsubaki, Tsubaki is the most wonderful person she had ever met and nothing made her happy than being around her.

She’d have to tell her.

 

Another Friday night. They were at Liz’s house again. Another night spent together, nothing out of the ordinary. At least, not to begin with. It was somewhat quieter than usual, but maybe that was just the normal afterschool exhaustion.  
It began to become something out of the ordinary with just a simple question from Liz, breaking the silence that still filled the room.

"Haven't you figured it out already?" 

The confused look on Tsubaki's face told Liz that she had not.

Liz shook her head. "I love you, stupid." 

No response. Tsubaki wouldn't even look at her face. Oh God, she didn't want /this…/ she could wave their friendship goodbye. She shouldn't have even opened her mouth in the first place. 

"I… I love you, too." 

".../What?"/ 

"Do you need to get your hearing checked? I said /I love you, too!"/ 

Tsubaki’s ears were strawberry-red. 

"Oh." 

Tsubaki leaned over to hug Liz.

It was done. Now she knew—and now Liz knew! Liz started laughing; she’d been worried for nothing! 

They lay on her bed and burst into a giggles.

"Uhh… Can I kiss you?" Liz was awfully straightforward about it, hoping she was going about it the right way. Was there a right way? 

It was so easy to forget everything in a kiss. How Kid would react if he saw them now, how this was going to make everything much more complicated than before, how they'd have to somehow act like everything was still the same at school—all of that and more Liz forgot in a matter of seconds. It wasn't important anymore. The only thing that mattered was that she had Tsubaki, and Tsubaki had her. 

It's a shame kisses didn't last very long; they must have been kissing for mere seconds when it was over. 

Finally, Tsubaki murmured, "What's Kid going to say?" 

Liz shrugged. "I'm not that concerned with what he thinks." 

"But don't you think he'll care?" 

"He might. I don't know, I'm not him." 

"What about everyone at school? What would they think?" 

"I don't know." 

The following silence grew to deafening proportions, and Liz could no longer stand it. 

"Maybe we shouldn't worry so much," she said at last. 

"Yeah. We shouldn't worry so much." 

"Do you think we could get away with just skipping school tomorrow?" 

"No." Then, "Don't give me that look, I'm not skipping class to go be a part of one of your schemes."

"But it'd be fun." 

"I said no." 

"Just once?" 

"Mmm, no, someone has to keep you from getting yourself in too much trouble. You're going to class tomorrow." 

"You're such a mom." 

Tsubaki rolled her eyes. "You know you love me." 

Liz giggled again. 

"Are you going to have to go home tonight?" Liz asked. "It is a school night." 

"No, I can just tell my parents I'm staying here tonight and borrow some of your clothes tomorrow." 

"Works for me." 

 

“You should probably get up now." Tsubaki woke up to Liz standing over her, the alarm clock beside her bed flashing the time 7:15. 

"Oh my god. It's 7:15, why did you wait this long to wake me up? We're gonna be late now," Tsubaki said, groaning.

Liz shrugged. "You didn't seem to want to wake up before, the alarm went off and you completely ignored it." 

Great. 

Tsubaki sighed, "Okay. Let's just hurry up and get ready, classes start at 8:05 and it takes 15 minutes to get there."

 

"It's only 7:45, there's no way you would be late now." Liz opened the door to the school building. 

"Okay. See you in art then, I guess."

Tsubaki said goodbye to Liz and started heading towards her locker as Liz ran up the stairs to hers. Just as soon as Tsubaki. got to her locker, Kim showed up beside her.

"Hello Tsubaki." Kim said, smiling like she wasn't going to be a rude, mean person for one day in her life. She must want something

"Hi, Kim." Tsubaki tried to ignore her and started to unlock her locker.

"Uhm, I wanted to ask, why are you wearing Liz's clothes?" 

Tsubaki's face flushed a bright pink and she stopped trying to get her locker open. Someone had noticed. How could she even answer this question without embarrassing herself? 

Kim raised an eyebrow, clearly confused as to why Tsubaki was taking so long to answer such a simple question.

Oh. It was an innocent question, Kim didn't know or suspect anything. 

"I stayed at Liz's house last night and didn't remember to bring any of my clothes," Tsubaki said. It was, at least, partially true and Kim couldn't possibly know anything. She began to unlock her locker again.

"Oh okay. Did you do the essay that's due in English today?" 

"Oh yeah, I finished that weeks ago. Didn't you?" Opened. The locker had been opened now, so if she just do everything right she'd be able to grab her stuff and move on, away from Kim.

"Uhm, no. I was wondering if I could copy your essay." 

Of course she had wanted something, you couldn't talk to Kim without her trying to take something from you.

She put her books in her backpack and then slung it over her shoulder. "Sorry, no. I have English first, I have to turn it in just a few minutes." She looked up at the clock on wall, "Class starts in 10 minutes so you should probably be going soon too. Find someone else to cheat off of, if that's what you really want to do." 

Kim made a face, she clearly wasn't impressed with what Tsubaki had said. Tsubaki shrugged, she really didn't want to have to deal with Kim today. She closed her locker and speed walked off to class, English was all the way on the third floor of the high school.

 

Liz decided to write in her journal again today, the first rehearsal was tomorrow and she was more than a little nervous.  
“I told her,” She wrote. “I did. I told Tsubaki Nakatsukasa that I, Liz Thompson, love her with all of my heart. I called her stupid, but I still told her. Patty is never going to let me forget she was right...I think things will be easier now. Everything should be easier, dance practice and drama practice and art and just. Everything. Everything everything everything.”

Liz then began to write “I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa.I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I love Tsubaki Nakatsukasa.” Over and over and over and over again until finally she was too tired of writing.

Rehearsal day. The first one, after only a month or two of practicing, had finally arrived.

"Cinderella, where is my tea?" Maka, playing the elder stepsister, said, reading from her script.

"Cinderella, my gloves!" Patty, the younger stepsister, said, reading from her script as well.

"Cinderella!" Maka said.

“Oops!” Patty exclaimed. “Uhm, Cinderella.” 

“Stop!” Miss Marie yelled, “Please take this seriously and don’t use so many filler words. Start again now, with Tsubaki entering the scene.”

"I'm coming!" Tsubaki exclaimed, hurrying onstage.

"It's about time!" Maka sniffed. 

"Cinderella, where are my gloves?" Patty demanded. 

"One moment, sister," Tsubaki murmured, hurrying offstage again. 

"Hmph! She's so lazy. Don't you agree?" Patty said rather dully. 

"Absolutely! Doesn't she realize how good she has it here? I mean, we're family! It's the least she could do for us since we kept her," Maka agreed. 

"Perhaps she would fit in better with the street vagrants!" Patty said with a wicked grin. 

They guffawed at the very thought. 

"Here are your gloves, sister," Tsubaki said, hurrying back with the pair. 

Patty impatiently snatched the gloves out of Tsubaki's hands. "Well, it's about time!"

Kim, playing the evil Stepmother, stepped into the room, wearing fine things and a haughty expression.

"Girls! A letter has arrived from the royal palace!" she announced, waving the envelope. 

"Let me see, Mother!" Maka exclaimed.

"No, I want it!" Patty cried.

"/I'll/ open the letter, thank you very much!" Kim opened up the envelope and held it up to eye level. "Why… why, it's an invitation to the palace! The Prince is throwing a ball there in hopes of meeting his wife!" Kim said in surprise. 

Patty and Maka gasped and looked excitedly at one another. 

"Is… is anyone allowed to attend?" Tsubaki asked timidly. 

The stepmother and stepsisters laughed at her question. 

"As if the prince would be interested in an unkempt maid like you!" Maka exclaimed in derision. 

"Now, now! Perhaps he'll need a scullery maid as well!" Patty harshly declared.

They dissolved into laughter once again.

"Well, then, I'll be sure to bring her along to the palace when His Grace decides to marry me!" Maka said snidely. 

"Oh my poor, deluded sister… if only he weren't so besotted with /me,/ you might have a chance." Patty said condescendingly. 

"You haven't even met him yet!" 

"No, but I will at the ball. After that, I'm sure he simply won't be able to help himself!" 

"Now, now, girls, let's not bicker,” Kim said. “It's unbecoming of such fine ladies. The Prince will choose one of you if he's not completely deranged, but you mustn't argue like children in front of him." 

"Yes, mother," Patty and Maka said in unison. 

"But stepmother… may I at least go to the ball?" Tsubaki asked. 

Kim scoffed. "If you insist on deluding yourself, I suppose you may… but only if you can find something decent to wear after you've finished our dresses. Then, and only then, may you accompany us."

"Mother, are you serious?" Maka cried. 

"Cinderella /can't/ come!" Patty screeched. 

"Girls, girls, it's not as if she has a chance! Look at it this way: you'll have an opportunity to show His Highness how you deal with servants." 

"Th-thank you, Stepmother. I'll start right away!" Tsubaki exclaimed with a grateful smile. 

"/After/ you've finished our gowns!" Kim reminded her. 

"...Of course, Stepmother." 

Tsubaki curtseyed and left the stage. Kim fanned herself while the other two glared at Tsubaki’s retreating back. 

The lights quickly dimmed. When they came back on, the backdrop had changed, and the audience saw Tsubaki working diligently on one of the ballgowns, humming to herself as she sewed.

"I do wish I could work on my own dress, but I can’t disobey Stepmother,” she sighed to herself. "Of course, if I rushed this last one, I’d have plenty of time to do my own… but Stepmother would notice. And then, not only would she forbid me from attending the ball, but I would receive such a dreadful punishment for sabotaging her daughters’ clothes!" She shuddered at the thought.

"If only I could run away,” she murmured, diligently continuing her work, “but Stepmother and her daughters are my only family… I have nowhere to go, and surely no one else would take me in. Who would want such a wretched, horrible old servant girl if even her own family couldn't stand her!" 

She set down the needle and held herself. 

"Oh, if only I could meet the Prince!” she exclaimed. “We would dance and laugh and talk like real people. He would see me as the most beautiful, engaging woman in the kingdom and we could fall so deeply in love!" She sighed. "That would be so wonderful…"

She stretched her arms out, a determined light in her eyes. "It could still happen, couldn’t it? All I need to do is make my dress! I’ve already got two done, and I’m almost finished with this one!"

"Cinderella! Have you finished my gown yet?" Patty yelled from offstage.

"Almost, stepsister!” Tsubaki called, picking up the needle again. “I just need to hem the bottom and add the trim!"

"Well, see that you do! The ball is in three days, and I want you to have time to make adjustments if needed!"

"Yes, stepsister!"

 

The lights dim as the next scene is set

“Mother, look at my dress! Isn’t it lovely?” Patty asked gleefully.

“Mine is much prettier! Yours makes you look like a goose!” Maka told her.

“Oh! Well your dress makes you look like a farm pig!” Patty countered.

Maka began to say something back before being interrupted by Kim. 

“Girls, girls! There is no need for this bickering. It’s quite unladylike. His highness will not want to marry such spoiled, quibbling children. “ Kim reminded them.

“But mother!” Patty exclaimed.

“Cinderella has done a very poor job indeed with both of your gowns, making you look so unflattering!" Kim harshly announced.

Patty and Maka shuffled uncomfortably at Kim’s words.

“And we shall make sure she is punished, at the very least.” Kim continued. 

Just at that very moment, Tsubaki came down the stairs wearing the dress she had made for herself, and with far more haste than her stepsisters’ and stepmother’s dresses.

“Look at her!” Patty said, with a disapproving tone in her voice.

“It’s so obvious she used all the good parts for herself!” Maka said.

“What?” Tsubaki tried to defend herself, “No, I-”

“Don’t deny it!” Patty told her.

“Your gown has lace!” Maka pointed out.

“So does yours, sister!” Tsubaki responded.

“Those are my silk ribbons!” Patty claimed.

“And my pearl necklace!” Maka added.

“But sisters, these were up in the attic! I only used what Stepmother allowed!” Tsubaki defended.

“Cinderella, enough! Now it is clear you used all of your best materials on your own ball gown, and it is clear that you used your best effort on only yours, as well. This is not what we agreed upon.” Kim told her.

“But Stepmother, I-”

“You are forbidden from attending the ball!”

“Stepmother, please!”

“You heard her!” Patty said.

“You aren’t welcome with us! You never were! And that’s my necklace!” Maka said as she hastily tore the necklace off of Cinderella. 

“And my ribbons!” Patty joined in and ripped the ribbons from Cinderella’s dress before she could say anything to defend herself. 

Patty and Maka then gleefully ripped off every single piece they could get their hands on for several seconds.

“Girls, we’re going to be late.” Kim reminded them.

They simply smirked and replied with another “Yes, mother.”

The door slams shut behind them and Tsubaki sits for a moment before running into the courtyard, sobbing. She continues to cry as Jackie, the Fairy Godmother, enters the scene.

“Why, child! Whatever is the matter?” Jackie said, finally having mastered the line.

Tsubaki looked around quickly, wiping tears from her cheeks, “Who- who are you?”

“I’m your fairy godmother, child.” Jackie said.

“A fairy godmother?” Tsubaki asked.

“Yes. Your mother sent me to help you at a time when it looked like you most needed it, and it seems that time is now.” Jackie said.

“My… my mother?” Tsubaki asked.

“Yes, child. I know it’s a lot to take in, but I promise you that everything is going to be all right.” Jackie said in the most reassuring voice she could manage.

“But how can you be so sure?” Tsubaki asked.

“The prince is throwing a ball tonight to meet his future wife. Why aren’t you in attendance? The guest list is welcoming every lady in the kingdom.” Jackie told her.

“My-my step family won’t let me go. They’ve shredded my gown, I’ve got nothing to wear and no way to get there!” Tsubaki exclaimed.

:\”Oh, dear. That does sound like quite the predicament. But you see, dear child, that’s what fairy godmothers are for. Now I want you to close your eyes, and picture the most beautiful dress that you can possibly think of. The kind even a princess would stop and stare at with envy.” Jackie instructed.

“All right.” Tsubaki closed her eyes.

Jackie waves her wand, and the cloak Tsubaki was wearing when she ran into the courtyard falls from her shoulders to reveal a magnificent silver dress, glittering with diamonds and moonstones. Her hood falls, revealing her hair in an elaborate bun. Cinderella gasps in surprise and glee before hugging her godmother.

“Oh, Godmother! It’s magnificent! This is the most amazing dress I’ve ever seen! I can’t believe you made it real! Oh, I’ve always dreamed of wearing this dress!” Tsubaki said excitiedly.

“Yes, child! Well, I’m glad you like it. Now, I believe there’s the matter of your transportation. Hmm… What do we have to work with here? I see some bean stalks, some scurrying mice, an old hound dog, a few flowers, pumpkins, an apple tree… Pumpkins! Yes, I believe we can do something with that. You will need horses, and a footman as well!” Jackie said. 

The Godmother waves her wand again, and 4 mice and a dog enter the scene, pushing a pumpkin carriage in front of them. The dog actor goes behind the carriage and pulls off their costume, coming back into view dressed as a human footman. Each of the 4 mice do the same, putting on white tailcoats over their gray clothes and taking the lead in front of the footman.

“Oh my goodness! Godmother, this is incredible!” Tsubaki exclaimed.

“Hurry, child! The ball has already begun!” Jackie warned.

“Thank you, Godmother! This is more than I ever could have hoped for!” Tsubaki pretended to enter the carriage prop.

“Hurry back, dear! You must be home before midnight.” Jackie informed her.

“Midnight? But why?” Tsubaki asked, confused.

“Magic spells like this only last until midnight, I’m afraid.” Jackie said sadly.

“Oh dear! Thank you, Godmother. I shall try to be back before the spell has ended.” Tsubaki promised.

“See that you do, dear.” She waved her wand twice more, “Off you go! Good luck!”

The carriage wheels off as the curtain draws. The lights dim, and the next scene is set.

The lights come on again as the curtain is pulled back to reveal Liz, the price, sitting on a throne next to Soul, the king, looking desperately bored. 

“Well now! You don’t seem to be having a very good time.” Soul announced.

“It’s just so dull! None of these women are right for me.” Liz said sadly.

“Well have you talked with any of them? I’ve barely seen you dance with anyone this evening. It doesn’t seem like you’re putting much of an effort into finding a wife.” Soul said.

“I am, father! But no one here is the right woman for me. I’m going to be marrying this girl, I want to make sure we fit together.” Liz answered.

“And how can you know just by simply looking at a woman? You have to talk to her, dance with her! Sitting on your throne watching the crowd is no way to find a wife.” Soul told Liz. 

“Father, I know what I’m doing.” Liz told him.

“Hmph! You’re eighteen, you don’t know what you’re doing.” Soul said.

“Pardon me, your majesty, my daughters would like to meet your son, if it is not too much of an imposition on your grace.” Kim announced.

“Not at all! Bring them forward!” Soul responded, happy that someone would finally be talking to the prince. 

“Thank you. Girls!” Kim called for Maka and Patty.

Patty, in her best impression of someone who was being told how to say every word exactly, said, “Good evening, your grace. It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you.

“Erm, thank you. It is a pleasure to meet you as well.” Liz responded awkwardly.

Soul nudged Liz to show they needed to talk to the girls.

“Would either of you ladies like to dance?” Liz asked, rather awkwardly.

The stepsisters squealed. 

“I would love to dance, your highness.” Maka said.

“He was asking me, pig!” Patty said.

"Let's just stop here for the day..." Miss Marie said, "We have many more practices to work on this."


	3. 3

It was finally the day of the play. Everyone was gathered around backstage, repeating their lines over and over again, even though they surely already knew them. The leads had already had all their makeup and costuming done, they were just working on the background people now. It seemed to be dark on the stage for a while. At least a good fifteen minutes must have passed while they were setting the stage and making sure everyone was ready.

“Are you nervous?” Tsubaki asked Liz in a whisper, right outside the stage.

“After this long? Not really. And you’re here. I can’t be scared if you’re here. I’ll be okay. What about you?” 

“I’m kind of nervous, honestly. But i’ll be alright...you could kiss me for good luck.”

Liz did just that, forgetting about all the makeup the crew spent an hour perfecting. Tsubaki was perfect in every way, it was hard to remember anything else when nothing could even try to compare to her perfection.  
A tired girl from the makeup crew broke them up and started to fix their faces. She didn’t bother adding any extra blush as both their faces were already pink from embarrassment.

Finally, they were ready to go on. The lights came on and the curtains opened. It was starting. Tsubaki waited from offstage for her cue with Liz right beside her. 

"Cinderella, where is my tea?" Maka, playing the elder stepsister, screamed.

"Cinderella, my gloves!" Patty, the younger stepsister, screamed.

"Cinderella!" they screeched together.

Liz gently nudged tsubaki on the stage.

"I'm coming!" Tsubaki (Cinderella, of course) exclaimed, hurrying onstage into the faux bedroom. She wore poor folk’s clothing and held a tea tray.

"It's about time!" Maka sniffed. 

"Cinderella, where are my gloves?" Patty demanded. 

"One moment, sister," Tsubaki murmured, hurrying offstage again. 

"Hmph! She's so lazy. Don't you agree?" Patty said disdainfully. 

"Absolutely! Doesn't she realize how good she has it here? I mean, we're family! It's the least she could do for us since we kept her," Maka agreed. 

"Perhaps she would fit in better with the street vagrants!" Patty said with a wicked grin. 

They guffawed at the very thought. 

"Here are your gloves, sister," Tsubaki said, hurrying back with the pair. 

Patty impatiently snatched the gloves out of Tsubaki's hands. "Well, it's about time!"

Kim, playing the evil Stepmother, stepped into the room, wearing fine things and a haughty expression.

"Girls! A letter has arrived from the royal palace!" she announced, waving the envelope. 

"Let me see, Mother!" Maka exclaimed.

Liz watched patiently from the side of the stage. She didn’t mind the long wait so much because she got to see Tsubaki performing. Anything Tsubaki did was truly angelic.

"No, I want it!" Patty cried.

"/I'll/ open the letter, thank you very much!" Kim opened up the envelope and held it up to eye level. "Why… why, it's an invitation to the palace! The Prince is throwing a ball there in hopes of meeting his wife!" Kim said in surprise. 

Patty and Maka gasped and looked excitedly at one another.

"Is… is anyone allowed to attend?" Tsubaki asked timidly. 

The stepmother and stepsisters laughed at her question. 

"As if the prince would be interested in an unkempt maid like you!" Maka exclaimed in derision. 

"Now, now! Perhaps he'll need a scullery maid as well!" Patty harshly declared.

They dissolved into laughter once again.

"Well, then, I'll be sure to bring her along to the palace when His Grace decides to marry me!" Maka said snidely. 

"Oh my poor, deluded sister… if only he weren't so besotted with /me,/ you might have a chance." Patty said condescendingly. 

"You haven't even met him yet!" 

"No, but I will at the ball. After that, I'm sure he simply won't be able to help himself!" 

"Now, now, girls, let's not bicker,” Kim said. “It's unbecoming of such fine ladies. The Prince will choose one of you if he's not completely deranged, but you mustn't argue like children in front of him." 

"Yes, mother," Patty and Maka said in unison. 

"But stepmother… may I at least go to the ball?" Tsubaki asked. 

Kim scoffed. "If you insist on deluding yourself, I suppose you may… but only if you can find something decent to wear after you've finished our dresses. Then, and only then, may you accompany us."

"Mother, are you serious?" Maka cried. 

"Cinderella /can't/ come!" Patty screeched. 

"Girls, girls, it's not as if she has a chance! Look at it this way: you'll have an opportunity to show His Highness how you deal with servants." 

"Th-thank you, Stepmother. I'll start right away!" Tsubaki exclaimed with a grateful smile. 

"/After/ you've finished our gowns!" Kim reminded her. 

"...Of course, Stepmother." 

Tsubaki curtseyed and left the stage. Kim fanned herself while the other two glared at Tsubaki’s retreating back. 

The lights quickly dimmed. When they came back on, the backdrop had changed, and the audience saw Tsubaki working diligently on one of the ballgowns, humming to herself as she sewed.

"I do wish I could work on my own dress, but I can’t disobey Stepmother,” she sighed to herself. "Of course, if I rushed this last one, I’d have plenty of time to do my own… but Stepmother would notice. And then, not only would she forbid me from attending the ball, but I would receive such a dreadful punishment for sabotaging her daughters’ clothes!" She shuddered at the thought.

"If only I could run away,” she murmured, diligently continuing her work, “but Stepmother and her daughters are my only family… I have nowhere to go, and surely no one else would take me in. Who would want such a wretched, horrible old servant girl if even her own family couldn't stand her!" 

She set down the needle and held herself. 

"Oh, if only I could meet the Prince!” she exclaimed. “We would dance and laugh and talk like real people. He would see me as the most beautiful, engaging woman in the kingdom and we could fall so deeply in love!" She sighed. "That would be so wonderful…"

She stretched her arms out, a determined light in her eyes. "It could still happen, couldn’t it? All I need to do is make my dress! I’ve already got two done, and I’m almost finished with this one!"

"Cinderella! Have you finished my gown yet?" Patty yelled from offstage. 

Patty looked over at Liz, who was watching Tsubaki intently, and smiled a little to herself. Liz knew she was right, she was.

"Almost, stepsister!” Tsubaki called, picking up the needle again. “I just need to hem the bottom and add the trim!"

"Well, see that you do! The ball is in three days, and I want you to have time to make adjustments if needed!"

"Yes, stepsister!"

The lights dim as the next scene is set and everyone is moved around the set along with the props.

“Mother, look at my dress! Isn’t it lovely?” Patty asked gleefully.

“Mine is much prettier! Yours makes you look like a goose!” Maka told her.

“Oh! Well your dress makes you look like a farm pig!” Patty countered.

Maka began to say something back before being interrupted by Kim. 

“Girls, girls! There is no need for this bickering. It’s quite unladylike. His highness will not want to marry such spoiled, quibbling children. “ Kim reminded them.

“But mother!” Patty exclaimed.

“Cinderella has done a very poor job indeed with both of your gowns, making you look so unflattering!" Kim harshly announced.

Patty and Maka shuffled uncomfortably at Kim’s words.

“And we shall make sure she is punished, at the very least.” Kim continued. 

Just at that very moment, Tsubaki came down the stairs wearing the dress she had made for herself, and with far more haste than her stepsisters’ and stepmother’s dresses.

“Look at her!” Patty said, with a disapproving tone in her voice.

“It’s so obvious she used all the good parts for herself!” Maka said.

“What?” Tsubaki tried to defend herself, “No, I-”

“Don’t deny it!” Patty told her.

“Your gown has lace!” Maka pointed out.

“So does yours, sister!” Tsubaki responded.

“Those are my silk ribbons!” Patty claimed.

“And my pearl necklace!” Maka added.

“But sisters, these were up in the attic! I only used what Stepmother allowed!” Tsubaki defended.

“Cinderella, enough! Now it is clear you used all of your best materials on your own ball gown, and it is clear that you used your best effort on only yours, as well. This is not what we agreed upon.” Kim told her.

“But Stepmother, I-”

“You are forbidden from attending the ball!”

“Stepmother, please!”

“You heard her!” Patty said.

“You aren’t welcome with us! You never were! And that’s my necklace!” Maka said as she hastily tore the necklace off of Cinderella. 

“And my ribbons!” Patty joined in and ripped the ribbons from Cinderella’s dress before she could say anything to defend herself. 

Patty and Maka then gleefully ripped off every single piece they could get their hands on for several seconds.

“Girls, we’re going to be late.” Kim reminded them.

They simply smirked and replied with another “Yes, mother.”

The door slams shut behind them and Tsubaki sits for a moment before the light dim again and she is seen running into the courtyard, sobbing. She continues to cry as Jackie, the Fairy Godmother, enters the scene. 

“Why, child! Whatever is the matter?” Jackie said, finally having mastered the line.

Tsubaki looked around quickly, wiping tears from her cheeks, “Who- who are you?”

“I’m your fairy godmother, child.” Jackie said.

“A fairy godmother?” Tsubaki asked.

“Yes. Your mother sent me to help you at a time when it looked like you most needed it, and it seems that time is now.” Jackie said.

“My… my mother?” Tsubaki asked.

“Yes, child. I know it’s a lot to take in, but I promise you that everything is going to be all right.” Jackie said in the most reassuring voice she could manage.

“But how can you be so sure?” Tsubaki asked.

“The prince is throwing a ball tonight to meet his future wife. Why aren’t you in attendance? The guest list is welcoming every lady in the kingdom.” Jackie told her.

“My-my step family won’t let me go. They’ve shredded my gown, I’ve got nothing to wear and no way to get there!” Tsubaki exclaimed.

:\”Oh, dear. That does sound like quite the predicament. But you see, dear child, that’s what fairy godmothers are for. Now I want you to close your eyes, and picture the most beautiful dress that you can possibly think of. The kind even a princess would stop and stare at with envy.” Jackie instructed.

“All right.” Tsubaki closed her eyes.

Jackie waves her wand, and the cloak Tsubaki was wearing when she ran into the courtyard falls from her shoulders to reveal a magnificent silver dress, glittering with diamonds and moonstones. Her hood falls, revealing her hair in an elaborate bun. Cinderella gasps in surprise and glee before hugging her godmother.

“Oh, Godmother! It’s magnificent! This is the most amazing dress I’ve ever seen! I can’t believe you made it real! Oh, I’ve always dreamed of wearing this dress!” Tsubaki said excitiedly.

“Yes, child! Well, I’m glad you like it. Now, I believe there’s the matter of your transportation. Hmm… What do we have to work with here? I see some bean stalks, some scurrying mice, an old hound dog, a few flowers, pumpkins, an apple tree… Pumpkins! Yes, I believe we can do something with that. You will need horses, and a footman as well!” Jackie said. 

The Godmother waves her wand again, and 4 mice and a dog enter the scene, pushing a pumpkin carriage in front of them. The dog actor goes behind the carriage and pulls off their costume, coming back into view dressed as a human footman. Each of the 4 mice do the same, putting on white tailcoats over their gray clothes and taking the lead in front of the footman.

“Oh my goodness! Godmother, this is incredible!” Tsubaki exclaimed.

“Hurry, child! The ball has already begun!” Jackie warned.

“Thank you, Godmother! This is more than I ever could have hoped for!” Tsubaki pretended to enter the carriage prop.

“Hurry back, dear! You must be home before midnight.” Jackie informed her.

“Midnight? But why?” Tsubaki asked, confused.

“Magic spells like this only last until midnight, I’m afraid.” Jackie said sadly.

“Oh dear! Thank you, Godmother. I shall try to be back before the spell has ended.” Tsubaki promised.

“See that you do, dear.” She waved her wand twice more, “Off you go! Good luck!”

The carriage wheels off as the curtain draws. The lights dim, and the next scene is being set up.

Liz smiled, it was finally her turn. There would be no faking the enjoyment of dancing with Tsubaki. She really did love her. 

The lights come on again as the curtain is pulled back to reveal Liz, the price, sitting on a throne next to Soul, the king, looking desperately bored. 

“Well now! You don’t seem to be having a very good time.” Soul announced.

“It’s just so dull! None of these women are right for me.” Liz said sadly.

“Well have you talked with any of them? I’ve barely seen you dance with anyone this evening. It doesn’t seem like you’re putting much of an effort into finding a wife.” Soul said.

“I am, father! But no one here is the right woman for me. I’m going to be marrying this girl, I want to make sure we fit together.” Liz answered.

“And how can you know just by simply looking at a woman? You have to talk to her, dance with her! Sitting on your throne watching the crowd is no way to find a wife.” Soul told Liz. 

“Father, I know what I’m doing.” Liz told him.

“Hmph! You’re eighteen, you don’t know what you’re doing.” Soul said.

“Pardon me, your majesty, my daughters would like to meet your son, if it is not too much of an imposition on your grace.” Kim announced.

“Not at all! Bring them forward!” Soul responded, happy that someone would finally be talking to the prince. 

“Thank you. Girls!” Kim called for Maka and Patty.

Patty, in her best impression of someone who was being told how to say every word exactly, said, “Good evening, your grace. It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you.

“Erm, thank you. It is a pleasure to meet you as well.” Liz responded awkwardly.

Soul nudged Liz to show they needed to talk to the girls.

“Would either of you ladies like to dance?” Liz asked, rather awkwardly.

The stepsisters squealed. 

“I would love to dance, your highness.” Maka said.

“He was asking me, pig!” Patty said

“Stay out of this, goose!” Maka yelled.

“Why, you-” Patty started

A spotlight shines from the top of stairs as Tsubaki descends from the audience and music swells. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress, she looked like a true princess. She always looked like a princess.

“Mother, who is that?” Patty asked, not faking any of the awe of seeing Tsubaki.

“She must be a nobleman’s daughter, to have a dress like that.” Maka said

Tsubaki continued to walk towards Liz.

Liz stood up from her chair, bowed and offered her hand to Tsubaki “Pardon me, but would you care to dance?” The words were so formal she thought, she’d have to ask Tsubaki to dance with her, out of character some day.

“Yes, your majesty.” Tsubaki said as she smiled and took her hand.

“No fair!” Maka yelled.

“He was just about to dance with me!” Patty claimed.

They began to dance together, just like they had practiced. It felt so natural after so long, especially with the two of them being so close. 

“You are incredibly beautiful, if I may say.” Liz said, laughing quietly enough for the majority of the audience to not have heard.

“Thank you, your majesty. You are… very handsome, but I'm sure you know.” Tsubaki said.

“It always helps to hear from such an exquisite woman. Tell me, wherever did you find such a lovely gown?” Liz asked.

“It, uh, it was made for me.” Tsubaki said. 

“It's magnificent.” Liz said. It was true, it had been made for her and it was magnificent. 

“Thank you, your highness.” Tsubaki said.

“You're very welcome.” Liz said.

“You're very light on your feet.” Liz said.

Tsubaki said, “As are you, your majesty.”

“Yes, my father made sure I was taught as a young boy. He claimed it would help me find a wife.” Liz said.

“If you don't mind me saying, your grace, I can't imagine how you've had trouble finding a bride.” Tsubaki said.

“I suppose it's because I've never found anyone right for me. That's why I had my father set up this ball, so I could meet someone.” Liz said.

“ And… have you?” Tsubaki asked.

“I… I believe I might have, yes.” Liz said. Even if this was just a play, Liz knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Tsubaki. Her very best friend.

They stop dancing and then Liz grabs Tsubaki’s arm.

“Would you like to go for a walk, my lady?” She asked.

“I would like that very much, your grace.” Tsubaki answered.

 

Liz couldn’t even remember what happened after that. It was so surreal, Tsubaki made everything feel like a real life fairy tale. Their story didn’t end with the play though. Even though their years of high school plays were over, they went on to perform as co leads in many other plays, much more important plays than high school ones. They could still look back fondly on their high school memories, though.

Patty never really got over the satisfaction of being right about Liz loving Tsubaki. She brought it up every Christmas. And Thanksgiving. And Thursday. 

They got married when they turned 22, and for Liz’s 23rd birthday they adopted a cat. Two years later a little girl, and then a little boy. They did love each other very much, and they got to live the rest of their lives the way they had wanted, together.


End file.
